The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1887-05-21
TIE EARTH TREM8lED.

/
terry remained unexplained until
Thursday morning when the Duluth
News confirmed the conclusions OF
many Of our people who knew of what
was stored ut a point near Spirit Lake,
on the Minnesota side of the St. Louis
river, The News reporter who follow
ed up the reports till he fouud the
cause Of the commotion says:
Just after leaving Spirit Lake sta
ton a group Of men was discovered in
the centre Of the road, and in a little
cleared patch near by stood, or leaned,
the remains Of the home of Thomas
Savors. The party merely glanced at
the house and hurried to the sceue of
the explosion (for such the knew it to
be-, and at this point of the journey
no guide was necessary, for signs of
a TITANIC UrHEAvAL.
were on every side. Huge trees were
moved down like straws and saplings
were driven into the earth, while frag
merts of debris were blown into trees
and stumps. The site Of the building
Is marked by big hole in the ground
roughly estimated ut 100 feet long by
80 to 30 feet wide and an average
depth Of about - feet, while at one
point the depth was nearly 40 feet.
Huge cracks extended for many feet
into the earth into which the reporters
p0ked sticks without finding bottom.
The little stream near by was blocked
up and its usually clear water was dis
colored and sluggish. For about a
mile to the southeast the surface of the
country was strewn with huge Jumps
Of red clay, some OF which were stuck
full Of siivers Of pine boards and frag-
mcnts of trees and timber The build
ing was a one story frame structure
/ 20xIS, and was used to manufacture
nitro-glycerine in. The large water
tanks that formerly stood near the
/ building had totally vanished with the
exception Of part of,one plank which
was driven into the earth for about
six feet. 4 large stump, near the
northeast corner, fairly bristled with
! fragments Of straw, tin cans, splinters
Of wood and bark Of trees which had
been blown into it. Twenty-nine large
acid tanks were scattered around in
every conceivable position, some Of
them split into ribands and battered
beyond q semblance Of their former
shape. These tanks were bound with
heavy cast iron bands which were
twisted into many serpentine forms, or
else broken into minute fragments
and hurled hundreds of feet At one
end Of the building was stored over
FOUR TOSS or NITRO GLYcERNE,
most Of II in tin packages, which were
placed in wooden boxes and plainly
marked " dangerous! keep away" OF
this vast amount Of explosive not a
trace remains except millions of small
pieces Of the tin packages which were
embedded into everything for radius
Of ten or twelve acres.
The boiler of the works had been
removed some days previous to the &C
cident, but portions Of the engine still
remained, before the explosion, but
when looked for afterwards were found
/ (some Of them) half mile away. As
far Us known the last person in the
vicinity was Edward Swenson who
lives about three quarters Of a mile
away. lie walked close by the build
ing shortly before noon on his way
home from fixing a fence and reports
that everything was all right at the
time. Many theories are advanced
as to the cause Of the explosion, some
asserting that it was caused by the
heat Of the suns rays, while Others
aver that forest fires made it. The
last conjecture is totally wrong,
and the former is believed to be. Less
than fifteen minutes prior to the ex-
plosion two men were seen walking
down the road toward the factory be-
tween the building and William Dash 5
house. They were strangers. or at
least not recognized by Thomas Savior.
/ The two men have
NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE
and The News advances the idea that
they visited the building and some
manner were responsible for the cat
a>trophe If this theory is correct
There are two lives lost in the gigantic
upheyd and no trace Of the men or
their bodies have been found up to
80 last night. \ small fragment
OF some wooden substance together
with a piece OF birch bark was pick
( ed OF a tree near the residence of Mr..
/ SWenSon. but is color or what it had
previously been a part Of we're alike
mys'e9y. The damage cannot ros-
~ihly be estimated at this writing but
will hc quite heavy when individual
losses are figured up.
Col. VIM. CoIyille, of Red Wing.
Mimi, Is the new Receiver at the Du-
luth Land Office, and, though Of a
different political faith we heartily
z